Program Note:   

The pitches of the theme: D-A-B-B-flat, heard at the outset, are derived from combining the initials of Ralph Berkowitz, the accompanist of Piatagorsky and former Dean of the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, and the composer's own.  The second movement explores a theme the composer hears in a recurring dream about drowning. In it, the orchestra is the ocean; the pianist is the swimmer. It is unclear how the dream ends.  The third movement is a musical sphinx: in it, the solo piano reveals a secret of an unknown or unknowable nature.  The finale, titled Elegy, returns to the melodic material of the final variation of the first movement and overlays a new theme comprised of falling triplets.